Best Kids Parties: Yellow Sunshine

Our daughter was born amidst a tough year for our family – my mom came down with a rare illness in the last months of my pregnancy. Unsure of the outcome, Sophia’s arrival brought everyone a much needed dose of sunshine.

I worked on several DIY projects for the event. I had been taking photos of Sophia each month and made a pennant banner to hang from the mantle. Using sparkling paper, I made a special party hat for Sophie and a bunch more as favors for other kids. I used branches from my father-in-law’s orange trees, interspersed with lemons to decorate the tables, window sills and mantels. I found some basic photo frames to display pictures of Sophie and painted them in our party colors. Amidst the branches, I placed yellow lanterns filled with daisies instead of candles. It seemed more whimsical fitting for an afternoon party.

The dessert bar was a major attraction and featured more lemons to make the sunshine theme flow throughout. We placed a beautiful ikat runner across the table in honor of my husband’s country of origin, Uzbekistan.

A yellow ruffle cake with Sophia’s name was the centerpiece of the dessert table. We had big and small apothecary jars filled with yellow malt balls and lemon drops. We also served lots of other yellow desserts.

We found Sofia champagne and Sofie beer that was just close to perfect given our daughter’s name is Sophia.

Etsy was a great resource for decorations. I found beautiful pink chevron labels and came up with funny titles for some of the dishes that reminded me of Sophia. For example, the deviled eggs were “Our lil’ devil” eggs and the marshmallows were “Puffs” like the puffy cereal she loves to snack on.

Sophia had three outfits for the party! She wore a bright yellow dress at first. Then she changed into a vintage Baby Dior gown passed down from me for a short Hebrew naming ceremony. Afterward, she put on her third dress of the afternoon to eat birthday cake!